While the Office for National Statistics released its inflation figures for December 2023, showing an unexpected rise to 4%. While this rise is small, it reinforces the feeling that this is going to be another tough year for businesses and a stagnant economy.

The Spring Budget on 6th March sits in an election year, and so it will therefore likely include some sweeteners for business owners. And this is needed. While it is encouraging that many UK firms are feeling positive about this year, this isn’t what we have been hearing from the thousands of small businesses we work with every week.

The legacy of the pandemic and the subsequent economic pressures have resulted in more businesses closing than opening in 2023. And many of those that have managed to stay open are constantly on the look-out for financial relief.

A Love Energy Savings survey from November 2023, which polled 2,000 small- and medium-sized business owners from across the country, found that inflation and the current economic climate (23%) was one of two main causes of stress at work. The other being rising energy bills (22%). And almost half (46.9%) of the small business owners we surveyed said they were more stressed than they were in the previous year.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is due to stop in March, so businesses will want to know how and where else they can make savings to get through the year.

Well, this week is Big Energy Savings Week. This is a national campaign to raise awareness about energy efficiency and to empower people, and businesses, to take control of their energy consumption. This makes it an opportune moment for businesses to reduce their bills by considering switching to an energy supplier which offers a better rate.

Recent Love Energy Savings data has highlighted that small businesses in the UK can slash their energy bills by more than half (54%) by switching suppliers now. The data shows that business rates fell by roughly 10% from the time of our survey to the present day. This also translates to less than a third of the cost of energy for businesses at the time of the ‘Mini Budget’ back in September 2022. This is the best time for years to find a more affordable energy deal.

And this narrative is helping, as an increasing number of businesses are choosing the new year as an opportunity to make that switch and cut costs.

It is now up to energy retailers like Love Energy Savings to support this trend by simplifying this process for business owners and cater to the unique work patterns of the hardest working group in the British economy. This means moving away from ‘traditional’ opening hours, and reducing the number of clicks it takes to find the best deal and maximise savings.

Despite a particularly difficult last few years, and in the face of what is expected to be a stagnant year for economic growth, the enduring spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and well in this country. Around 87% of small business owners that spoke to us in the survey have said they would recommend to a friend about starting a business this year.

So there is clearly some light at the end of this long, almost endless, tunnel.